


skin deep

by yourgirlislovely



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, F/M, Gen, Kind of Canon Compliant, some gore and violence but what's new
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:00:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29693304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourgirlislovely/pseuds/yourgirlislovely
Summary: Barty fixates against his better judgement.
Relationships: Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody & Nymphadora Tonks, Bartemius Crouch Jr./Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	skin deep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brainyisalwayssexy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brainyisalwayssexy/gifts).



> This is dedicated to desidarling123 on tumblr, Happy Birthday you absolute gem of a human being!

To officially be a dead man does come with perks, he must admit.

With only his foolish father on his tail, there is little to stop him, little to get in his way of serving his master. 

And Barty watches, under the protection of an invisibility cloak just at the right distance to avoid detection from the whizzing glass eye of his target. 

Barty's eyes burn but he does not blink; every gesture, tumble, breath– he commits to memory. 

_A month. That's all is given to think, to live, to see the world as Moody and–_

He's nearly knocked over by the swing of the door, biting his tongue to stifle the curse threatening to escape his mouth and barely steadying himself from crashing down on the stacks of files and papers behind him. 

His eyes shift back, trying to catch a glimpse of the imbecile who walks in like an oaf with no manners–

Instead, Barty is met with shades of blinding purples and blues cascading down the back of the small visitor. 

He can't see her face but does catch the slightest crack in Mad Eye's expression before hardening to his familiar roughness.

_Even Head Aurors are guilty of soft spots, it seems._

The barging visitor turns her head and Barty sees familiar dark eyes and angles; a memory is brought back–one of a woman being dragged away alongside him, the delirious screams of the Longbottoms whose bodies continue to twist and turn. 

_Bellatrix._

Or someone who shares her blood at least. 

He watches as the bright colors fade to a dark brown, the cascades now tight coils.

He wonders if she shares dear Bella's.. gumption too.

* * *

A nuisance is what she is.

Nymphadora Tonks, daughter of a blood traitor and a mudblood.

Hardly worth his attention but she is **always** there.

Clumsy, loud, and dim-witted, knocking things down and tripping over the flat surface of the ground beneath her.

This is the famous Mad-Eye Moody’s favorite, his protégé in the works.

A waste of an auror and even more waste of a witch.

And today, her hair is pink.

Pink and spiked, no less.

His blood boils at the mere sight of her, his fingers itching to wrap around her neck and squeeze, to hear the sound of crushing wind pipes echoing as a final gasp of air escapes her throat. 

A mission of his own once he serves his master.

_All in due time._

* * *

It is painful–first, the burn of the Polyjuice Potion making its way inside him. Then it’s the stretch of skin and flesh, a force pushing and pressing under him.

The burn of his eye to make room for Moody's magical one, the melding and breaking of joints that have gone through decades of damage; that's when his hisses become shrieks of pain as he thrashes on to the floor. His insides are jumping from side to side, pushing to burst out. 

As he turns to the fireplace, the flames molding of a heart-shape face, a voice yelling at him, the sparks and–

_Nothing._

* * *

He is stuck. 

It is just as well that he inherits the brittle body of Moody, there's new damage thanks to his little stumble after drinking the potion.

Barty winces as he shifts his recently fractured leg to the side as he sits by the fireplace. 

_It is a setback and now his mind races to find another way to move the real Mad Eye to Hogwarts undetected but how–_

A crash from the kitchen breaks him from his thoughts and he's biting his tongue hard enough that blood lets out.

_Moody's keeper; another credential to add to her list of wasteful skills. How touching._

_How pathetic._

And now Barty is stuck with her, the filthy witch. 

Rushing over to the house, loud and overbearing, chaos following after her wherever she goes.

She's back in the living room now, her voice cutting through his space and his plans. 

Barty grits his teeth, the metal taste of crimson bursting in every corner.

_He needs quiet, he needs options, he needs Wormtail here–_

And by god, she's talking to him now and he's irritated. 

_He needs her to shut it._

"Either you make yourself useful Tonks and fix my leg or get the hell out."

He croaks it out, just like he's practiced many times.

Her sudden quiet cuts his confidence and he's drenched in sweat. He doesn't look up, careful not to give away more than he may have.his hand slowly making it's way to his pocket, to his wand.

It's the swift crunch of bones sliding against each other in his leg that breaks the stillness and he lets out a painful groan. 

Barty finally looks up to see a pointed wand and at the other end, eyes intently studying him. The dark pools are sharp and focused, with the intent to solve him.

_What does she see?_

Without another word, she turns and leaves. 

* * *

The next few days go without interruption from her. A check-in at the start of the day and a farewell at the end. 

_If she does suspect him, she doesn’t show it._

It should relieve him but paranoia lingers in him like a fever. 

So Barty does what any proper imitation of Mad- Eye Moody would do. 

He apologizes.

With as much sincerity as he can fake, something much too foreign of a concept to him. 

Facing her in Moody’s office, the stutter in his gruff voice surprises him and he's sure she caught it too.

It's quiet again and he thinks back to a few nights before, as her eyes look over him. 

His hand begins to shake in his pocket.

_An uncommon quirk. For him and for Moody._

But then she blinks, a smile spreading across her face and says, " I think we're past apologies, don’t you?"

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 will be up soon!


End file.
